Related Stories

Tyler Belan and Joslyn Kent love cheese so much they'd gladly chase a five-kilogram wheel of cheese down a hill.

But not just any hill.

The Kitchener, Ont., man and the Australian native were crowned Grand Champions at the fifth annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival in Whistler, B.C., Saturday after tearing after cheese wheels bombing down Blackcomb Mountain.

Belan and Kent beat out more than 130 competitors in the daredevil event and each were rewarded with an 11-pound wheel of Canadian cheese and a Whistler season's ski pass for two.

Belan won the men's race in a time of 5.03 seconds and Kent won the women's race in 7.08 seconds. There were 11 race heats - seven men's and four women's - before the final Grand Championship races. In addition to the men's and women's races, 86 children participated in uphill races.

For the fifth consecutive year, cheese maker Natural Pastures produced the special 11-pound wheels of Cracked Pepper Verdelait cheese for the event.